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S2c£ Congress, 3cC Session - - - - - - - - - - -- Senate Document No. 9S5 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL 

COMMISSION 

REPORT 



MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT 
OF THE UNITED STATES ^ ^ 

TRANSMITTING A REPORT OF THE LINCOLN ME- 
MORIAL COMMISSION, AND ITS RECOMMENDA- 
TIONS. UPON THE LOCATION, PLAN, AND 
DESIGN FOR A MEMORIAL, IN THE CITY 
OF WASHINGTON, TO THE MEMORY 
OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, IN AC- 
CORDANCE WITH THE ACT 
APPROVED FEBRU- 
ARY 9. 19n 



DECEMBER 5, 1912 
Refened to the Committee on the Library and ordered to be printed, with illustrations 



WASHINGTON 
1913 



62c[ Congress. Sd Session 



Senate Document No. 965 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL 

COMMISSION 

REPORT 



MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT 
OF THE UNITED STATES ^ ^ 

TRANSMITTING A REPORT OF THE LINCOLN ME- 
MORIAL COMMISSION, AND ITS RECOMMENDA- 
TIONS. UPON THE LOCATION, PLAN, AND 
DESIGN FOR A MEMORIAL, IN THE CITY 
OF WASHINGTON, TO THE MEMORY 
OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, IN AC- 
CORDANCE WITH THE ACT . 
APPROVED FEBRU- 
i'ARY 9, 1911 



DECEMBER 5. 1912 
Referred to the Committee on the Library cind ordered to be printed, with illustrations 






WASHINGTON 
1913 



Q-/-^<ui 



■ 1^7366 6 




D. OF D. 

MN 25 1913 



"t 



UNCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION 

WILUAM H. TAFT, Chairman 
SHELBY M. CULLOM SAMUEL WALKER McCALL 

JOSEPH G. CANNON CHAMP CLARK 

GEO. PEABODY WETMORE THOMAS S. MARTIN 

COL. SPENCER COSBY, U. S. A. 
Executive and Disbursing Officer 

HENRY A. VALE 
Secretary, in care United States Senate 



>JI 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 



To the Senate and House of Representatives: 

I beg herewith to submit a report of the Lincohi Memorial Commission, and 

its recommendation, upon the location, plan, and design for a memorial, in the 

City of Washington, District of Columbia, to the memory of Abraham Lincoln, in 

accordance with an act providing a commission to secure plans and designs for a 

monument or memorial to the memory of Abraham Lincoln, approved February 

9, 1911. 

Wm. H. Taft. 

The White House, December 5, 1912. 



REPORT OF THE 
LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION 



Washington, December 4, 1912. 
To the Senate and House of Representatives: 

The Lincoln Memorial Commission has the honor to submit the following 
report and recommendation upon the location, plan, and design for a memorial 
in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, to the memory of Abraham 
Lincoln. 

The Commission was created by act of Congress, approved February 9, 1911, 
which reads as follows : 

[Public— No. 346.] 

[S. 9449.] 

AN ACT To provide a commiesion to secure plans and designs for a momiment or memorial to tte memory of 

Abraham Lincoln. 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That William H. Taft, Shelby M. 
CuUom, Joseph G. Cannon, George Peabody Wetmore, Samuel Walker 
McCall, Hernando D. Money, and Champ Clark are hereby created a Com- 
mission, to be known as the Lincoln Memorial Commission, to procure and 
determine upon a location, plan, and design for a mommient or memorial 
in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, to the memory of Abraham 
Lincoln, subject to the approval of Congress. 

Sec. 2. That in the discharge of its duties hereunder said Commission is 
authorized to employ the services of such artists, sculptors, architects, and 
others as it shall determine to be necessary, and to avail itself of the services 
or advice of the Commission of Fine Arts, created by the act approved May 
seventeenth, nineteen hundred and ten. 

Sec. 3. That the construction of the Monument or Memorial, herein 
and hereby authorized, shall be upon such site as shall be determined by the 
Commission herein created, and approved by Congress, and said construc- 
tion shall be entered upon as speedily as practicable after the plan and 
design therefor is determined upon and approved by Congress, and shall 



g LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 

be prosecuted to completion, under the direction of said Commission and 
the supervision of the Secretary of War, under a contract or contracts hereby 
authorized to be entered into by said Secretary in a total sum not exceeding 
two million dollars. 

Sec. 4. That vacancies occurring in the membership of the Commission 
shall be filled by appointment by the President of the United States. 

Sec. 5. That to defray the necessary expenses of the Commission herein 
created and the cost of procxu-ing plans or designs for a memorial or monu- 
ment, as herein provided, there is hereby appropriated the sum of fifty 
thousand dollars, to be inamediately available. 

Sec. 6. That said Commission shaU annually submit to Congress an 
estimate of the amount of money necessary to be expended each year to 
carry on the work herein authorized. 

Sec. 7. That all acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby 
repealed. 

Approved, February 9, 1911. 

Sixteen meetings of the Commission have been held. At the first meeting, on 
March 4, 1911, Hon. William H. Taft was chosen chairman of the Commission. 
At subsequent meetings Henry A. Vale was appointed secretary, and the Engineer 
officer in charge of public buildings and grounds was appointed executive and dis- 
bursing ofiicer of the Commission. Both served without compensation. 

One of the members of the Commission, Hernando D. Money, died on September 
18, 1912. As provided in the act creating the Commission, the President filled the 
vacancy by the appointment of Thomas S. Martin, of Virginia. 

The questions of the most suitable site for the Memorial and of the best method 
of securing designs and of executing them were at once taken up. In order to have 
expert advice on these matters, the Commission availed itself of the authority con- 
tained in section 2 of the above act by calling for suggestions from the Commission 
of Fine Arts in accordance with the following resolution: 

March 4, 1911. 
Resolved, That the Commission of Fine Arts be required to make sug- 
gestions to this Memorial Commission as to the locations, plans, and designs 
for a monument or memorial in the city of Washington, and that it give 
its advice as to the following locations: The axis of Delaware Avenue at 
some point between the Capitol and the Union Station Plaza; the axis of 
the new avenue authorized to be constructed by the act of June twenty-fifth, 
nineteen hundred and ten, between the Peace Monument and the Union 
Station Plaza; some portion of the land for enlarging the Capitol Grounds 
authorized to be acquired by the act of June twenty-fifth, nineteen hundred 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 9 

and ten; the site in Potomac Park recommended in the report of the Senate 
Committee on the District of Coliunbia (57th Cong., 1st sess., No. 166) on 
"The improvement of the park system of the District of Columbia"; and 
also any other location which they may deem suitable; and that the Com- 
mission of Fine Arts be required to make suggestions in connection with 
each location as to a Memorial suited to it and within the limit of cost author- 
ized by the act; and also the best method of selecting the artists, sculptors, 
and architects to make the proper designs and to execute them. 

The Commission of Fine Arts, after fom- months of close and careful study 
of all phases of the question, unanimously approved and recommended the Potomac 
Park site for the location of the memorial. In its study of the problem not only 
were various sites in the District of Columbia considered, but suggestions that the 
Memorial take the form of a bridge across the Potomac and of a road to Gettys- 
burg were also taken up and reported upon adversely. Recommendations as to 
the selection of a designer were also included in the report, a copy of which, marked 
"Appendix A," is attached hereto. 

During the consideration of this report the suitability of locating the Memorial 
at Arlington was suggested, on the assimiption that Congress would change the 
law so as to permit the selection of this site should the Lincoln Memorial Com- 
mission recommend it. The recommendation of the Commission of Fine Arts was 
asked for and a joint conference was held with that commission, who reported 
adversely on Arlington as a suitable site. At this same conference other sites 
were discussed, including the Soldiers' Home grounds and the grounds of the 
Naval Observatory now occupied by the naval hospital. 

To enable the Lincoln Memorial Commission to determine whether it would 
finally approve the site recommended by the Commission of Fine Arts, Mr. Henry 
Bacon, architect, of New York City, was, on the advice of that commission, selected 
to prepare designs for a memorial within the legal limit of cost on the Potomac 
Park site. 

A few weeks later Mr. John Russell Pope, architect, of New York City, was 
employed to prepare designs for a suitable memorial to be located on the Soldiers' 
Home grounds on the axis of North Capitol Street, and also for a suitable memorial 
to be located on the high ground on Sixteenth Street, north of Florida Avenue, 
these two sites seeming the most promising next to that in Potomac Park. 

In December, 1911, the two architects presented for the consideration of the 
Commission complete designs, including perspectives, plans, and models, for the 
three sites. AU of these are on exhibition at the National Museum. The reports 



10 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 



of the architects, marked "Appendix B" and "Appendix C," respectively, are 
attached hereto. 

After careful consideration of the designs that had been presented and after 
fuU discussion of the various sites proposed, the Commission, on February 3, 1912, 
by a majority vote, adopted the site in Potomac Park near the river on the axis of 
the Capitol and the Washington Monument as the most suitable for the Lincoln 
Memorial. 

The two architects were thereupon asked to meet the Commission, and after 
explaining their views each was requested to prepare and submit any new designs 
he might have for the Memorial, as weU as any modifications of the designs pre- 
viously submitted, all to be for the Potomac Park site. 

On March 28 the Commission examined the new designs presented by the two 
architects, all of which are on exhibition at the National Museum. Mr. Bacon 
submitted three designs, one being a slight modification of his original design and 
the other two being entirely new. His report, marked "Appendix D," is attached 
hereto. Mr. Pope presented a modification of his Soldiers' Home grounds design, 
adapted to the Potomac Park site, as well as a number of sketches of alternative 
designs for this site, carrying out suggestions made by members of the Memorial 
Commission. His report is attached hereto, marked "Appendix E." 

In a critical report on all the designs submitted, which had been requested of 
the Commission of Fine Arts and which is attached hereto, marked "Appendix F," 
the recommendation was made that design A (the modified form of his first Potomac 
Park design), submitted by Mr. Bacon, be adopted, with such modifications as 
further study may suggest, and that Mr. Bacon be selected as the architect of the 
Memorial. 

On April 16 the Commission, by a majority vote, selected Mr. Henry Bacon 
as the architect to prepare the final design for the Lincohi Memorial to be submitted 
to the Commission for its decision, subject to the approval of Congress. Mr. Bacon 
at once proceeded with the preparation of this design, which was to embody certain 
modifications suggested to him as desirable, and submitted it to the Commission 
at a meeting held on July 3. His report on this final design is attached hereto, 
marked "Appendix G." 

The Commission, after a careful examination and discussion of the design 
presented by Mr. Bacon, has adopted it unanimously and recommends that Con- 
gress approve the construction of the Memorial upon the selected site in Potomac 
Park in accordance with the plans and designs of Mr. Bacon, reproductions of 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. n 

■whicli are submitted herewith, subject to such minor modifications as may be 
determined upon by the architect in the preparation of the working drawings and 
approved by the Lincohi Memorial Commission. 

As to the reasons which led the Commission to select the Potomac Park site, 
they are well stated in the following quotation from the report of the Commission 
of Fine Arts: 

f The comparative isolation of the Potomac Park site in the midst of a 
large area of undeveloped vacant land constitutes a peculiar advantage. 
For a long distance in every direction the surroundings «rre absolutely free 
for such treatment as would best enhance the effect of the Memorial. The 
fact that there are now no features of interest or importance, that every- 
thing is yet to be done, means that no embarrassing obstacles would inter- 
fere with the development of a setting adequate in extent and perfect in 
design, without compromise and without discord. 

Congress has here created a great park area, raised well above the highest 
river floods, and this area now awaits development. By the ordinary ope- 
rations of park improvement it is a simple matter to raise in this area an 
eminence suited to the site of a great memorial, and to adorn and surround 
it by such landscape features as shaU give it effective and bjeautiful support. 
In judging the site of a memorial to endure throughout the ages we must 
regard not what the location was, nor what it is to-day, but what it can be 
made for all time to come. The short period required for grading and the 
growth of trees would be as nothing compared with the possibility which 
this site presents of treating freely every element of the surroundings in the 
best manner that the skiU of man can devise. 

It is impossible to overestimate the importance of giving to a monument 
of the size and significance of the Lincoln Memorial complete and undisputed 
domination over a large area, together with a certain dignified isolation 
from competing structures, or even from minor features unrelated to it. 
Upon no other possible site in the city of Washington can this end be secured 
so completely as upon the Potomac Park site. 

A memorial upon this location would have the further advantage that 
it need not be so high as to bring it into competition with the Washington 
Monument in order to make it visible from great distances, without danger 
of obstruction by buildings erected on private property. A monumental 
structure standing in a broad plain surrounded by an amphitheater of hills 
is as widely seen and is as impressive as one upon a hilltop. From the hills 
of the District and of Virginia the constantly recurring views of a great 
Lincoln Memorial, seen in association with the Washington Monument and 
the Dome of the Capitol, would be impressive in the highest degree. 



12 LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 

While this site is sufficiently isolated to give it dignity, it is readily acces- 
sible, being situated in a park which even in its partially developed state has 
become a place of great popular resort, and which is destined to be the chief 
center of outdoor reunion in Washington, for people on foot as well as those 
in vehicles. 

As a matter of general design in relation to the plan of the city as a 
' whole, any site upon the main east and west axis, in line with the Capitol 
and the Washington Monument, has an importance which no other site 
can claim; and the termination of that axis at the Potomac River gains a 
significance comparable only with that of the site selected in the plan of 
1791 for the monument to Washington. The Lincoln Memorial would have 
its dignity enhanced by being so placed; and the termination of the axis by 
an object worthy of rank with the Washington Monument and the Capitol 
would be of the utmost value to the great composition. 

It is now 10 years since the Potomac Park site was first suggested for a 
memorial to Lincoln. Among those with whom the location found favor 
was the Hon. John Hay, one of Lincoln's secretaries and biographers, whose 
rank in statesmanship and whose taste in matters of art combine to give 
value to his opinion. Mi*. Hay expressed in these words the feelings which 
in one forfu or another he often stated : 

" As I understand it, the place of honor is on the main axis of the plan. 
Lincoln, of all Americans next to Washington, deserves this place of honor. 
He was of the immortals. You must not approach too close to the immortals. 
His monmnent should stand alone, remote from the common habitations of 
man, apart from the business and turmoil of the city — isolated, distinguished, 
and serene. Of all the sites, this one, near the Potomac, is most suited to the 
purpose." 

In pursuance with your instructions we have considered carefully whether 
any location not specifically mentioned in yovu" resolution meets the require- 
ments. We are unable to find any such site. We therefore unanimously 
approve and recommend the Potomac Park site for the location of the Lincoln 
Memorial. 

The following is the architect's description of the design selected for the Memorial : 

'Vji.. On the great"axis, planned over a century ago, we have at one end the Cap- 
■ itol, which is the monument of the Government, and to the west, over a mile 
distant from the Capitol, is the monument to Washington, one of the founders 
of the Government. If the Lincoln Memorial is built on this same axis still 
farther to the west, by the shore of the Potomac, we will there have the monu- 
ment of the man who saved the Government, thus completing an unparalleled 
composition which can not fail to impart to each of its mommients a value 
in addition to that which each standing alone would possess. 




LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 3^3 

An extension of tLe street-car lines down Eighteenth Street and across B 
Street into the park, thence turning westward and running about 40 feet 
south of B Street to the Twenty-third Street entrance of the park, opposite 
the site of the Lincoln Memorial, will make the Potomac Park site readily 
accessible, as it should be, to all classes. 

The design submitted of the Lincoln Memorial is a development of the 
designs already submitted by me. The structure has been enlarged, the design 
of the approaches, terraces, and steps has been revised, and the front of the 
Memorial has been made more open. From the beginning of my study I 
believed that thi^^emorial of Abraham Lincoln should be composed of foiu" 
features — a statue of the man, a memorial of his Gettysbmrg speech, a memo- 
rial of his second inaugural address, and a sjnnbol of the union of the United 
States, which he stated it was his paramount object to save — and which he 
did save. Each feature should be related to the others by means of its design 
and position, and each should be so arranged that it becomes an integral part 
pi the whole, in order to attain a unity and simplicity in the appearance of 
the Monument. Each feature should impress the beholder with its greatest 
force, and by means of isolation this can be accomplished, though this isola- 
tion should not be planned to the extent of impairing the relation of each 
feature to the others. 

The most important object is the statue of Lincoln, which is placed in the 
center of the Memorial, and by virtue of its imposing position in the place of 
honor, the gentleness, power, and intelligence of the man, expressed as far as 
possible by the sculptor's art, will predominate. This portion of the Memo- 
rial where the statue is placed would be unoccupied by any other object that 
would detract from its effectiveness, and the visitor will be alone with it. 

The smaller halls at each side of the central space would each contain 
a memorial — one of the second inaugural and the other of the Gettysburg 
address. These speeches would be shown by bronze letters arranged on a 
monmnental tablet, and adjacent low reliefs or decoration would relate in 
allegory Lincoln's great qualities evident in those speeches. While these 
memorials can be seen from any part of the hall, they are partially screened 
from the central portion, where the statue is placed, by means of a row of 
Ionic colmnns, giving a certain isolation to the space they occupy and aug- 
menting thereby their importance. I believe these two great speeches 
made by Lincoln will always have a far greater meaning to the citizens of the 
United States and visitors from other countries than a portrayal of periods 
or events by means of decoration. I think, however, some reliefs and deco- 
ration designed in conjunction with these memorials and representing in alle- 
gory Lincoln's qualities, such as charity, patience, intelligence, patriotism, 
devotion to high ideals, and humaneness, will emphasize the effect of the 
speeches. 



14 LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 

Surrounding the walls inclosing these memorials of the man is planned 
a colonnade forming a symbol of the Union, each column representing a 
State — 36 in all — ^for each State existing at the time of Lincoln's death, and 
on the walls appearing above the colonnade and supported at intervals by 
eagles are 48 memorial festoons, one for each State existing at the present 
time. 

I believe this symbol representing the Union surrounding the memorials 
of the man who saved the Union will give to them a great significance that 
will strengthen in the hearts of beholders the feelings of reverence and honor 
for the memory of Abraham Lincoln. 

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION 

By means of terraces the ground at the site of the Lincoln Memorial will 
be raised untU the floor of the Memorial itself will be 45 feet higher than the 
present grade. First, a circular terrace 1,000 feet in diameter is raised 11 feet 
above the present grade and on its outer edge will be planted four concentric 
TOWS of trees, leaving a plateau in the center 755 feet in diameter, which is 
greater than the length of the Capitol. In the center of this plateau, sur- 
rounded by a wide roadway and walks, will rise an eminence supporting a 
rectangular stone terrace wall 14 feet high, 256 feet long, and 186 feet wide. 
On this rectangular terrace rises the marble Memorial. AU the foundations 
of the steps, terraces, and Memorial will be built on concrete pUing which 
extends down to the sohd rock. 

Three steps 8 feet high form a platform under the columns. This plat- 
form at its base is 204 feet long and 134 feet wide. 

The colonnade is 188 feet long and 118 feet wide, the columns being 
44 feet high and 7 feet 5 inches in diameter at their base. 

The total height of the structure above the finished grade at the base of 
the terrace is 99 feet. The finished grade at the base of the terrace being 23 
feet above the present grade, the total height of the building above the present 
grade is 122 feet. 

The outside of the Memorial Hail is 84 feet wide and 156 feet long. 

The colonnaded entrance to the Memorial Hall, which is 45 feet wide and 
44 feet high, is equipped with sliding bronze grilles, filled with plate glass. 
These grilles during the day will be rolled back into the space provided in 
the walls, and will be closed at night for the protection of the Memorial. 
As they are mostly glass they can also be kept closed during the day in cold 
weather without obstructing the entrance of light through the entrance, 
and a temporary bronze and glass vestibule can be provided in the lower 
portion of the grilles, which are subdivided at the bottom for this pmpose. 

The central hall, where the statue stands, is 60 feet wide, 70 feet long, 
and 60 feet high. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 15 

The halls where the memorials of the speeches are placed are 37 feet 
wide, 57 feet long, and 60 feet high. 

The Ulterior columns are of the Ionic order and are 50 feet high. 

The cost of erecting this Memorial, according to estimates received from 
a contractor of the highest standing in monumental work, the quantities being 
carefuUy computed, is $1,775,000. This estimate does not include the steps 
at the head of the lagoon, the statue of Lincoln, the memorials of his two 
speeches, or the architect's commission. With the exception of the steps 
at the head of the lagoon, which are properly a part of the landscape garden- 
ing around the Memorial, the design I have submitted, including the statue, 
the memorials, and the architect's commission, can be built for the sum 
authorized by Congress. 

The ifollowing summary shows the expenditures of the Commission to date : 

Travel expenses $261.90 

Designs and models 28,434.11 

Boring tests 50. 00 

Telegraph messages, cab service, and typewriter .... 80. 80 I 

28,826.81 I 
Balance available 21, 173. 19 ! 



50, 000. 00 

Wm. H. Taft. I 

Shelby M. Cullom. 
J. G. Cannon. 
Geo. Peabody Wetmore. 
Saml. W. McCall. 
Champ Clark. 
Thomas S. Martin. 

68731°— S. Doc. 965, 62-3 2 




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SKETCH OF SPEECH MEMORIAL AT END OF HALL. 



APPENDIXES 



17 



APPENDIX A 

REPORT OF THE COMMISSION OF FINE ARTS ON THE 

SITE AND THE SELECTION OF A DESIGNER 

FOR THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL 



July 17, 1911. 
The Lincoln Memokial Commission. 

. Sms : The Commission of Fiae Arts, as directed by the Lincohi Memorial Commission ia a 

resolution adopted March 4, 1911, as follows: 

Resolved, That the Commission of Fine Arts be required to make suggestions to this 
Memorial Commission as to the locations, plans, and designs for a monument or memorial 
in the city of Washington, and that it give its advice as to the following locations : The 
axis of Delaware Avenue at some point between the Capitol and the Union Station 
Plaza; the axis of the new avenue authorized to be constructed by the act of June 
twenty-fifth, nineteen hundred and ten, between the Peace Monument and the Union 
Station Plaza; some portion of the land for enlarging the Capitol Grounds authorized to 
be acquired by the act of June twenty-fifth, nineteen hundred and ten; the site in 
Potomac Park recommended iu the report of the Senate Committee on the District of 
Columbia (57th Cong., 1st sess.. No. 166) on "The improvement of the park system of 
the District of Columbia"; and also any other location which they may deem suitable; 
and that the Commission of Fine Arts be required to make suggestions ia connection 
with each location as to a memorial suited to it and within the limit of cost authorized 
by the act; and also the best method of selecting the artists, sculptors, and architects to 
make the proper designs and to execute them — 

respectfully report: 

The act of Congress entitled "An act to provide a Commission to secure plans and designs 
for a monument or memorial to the memory of Abraham Lincoln," approved February 9, 1911, 
authorizes an expenditure of $2,000,000, the largest amount yet appropriated by this Gov- 
ernment for a similar purpose. This sum suggests that the Memorial is intended to be a struc- 
ture of large size. The popular idea of a memorial to Lincoln will be satisfied only with a 
design which combines grandeur with beauty. Assuming that this Memorial must be a large one, 
there are few sites on which it can be placed successfully; for it is important that a large monu- 
ment shall stand where its environment can be specially designed to harmonize with it, and 
where the design need not be controlled or even iafluenced by existing surroundings. 

We consider the sites mentioned ia the above resolution and such otter sites as are 

related thereto. 

SITES NEAR THE CAPITOL 

In whatever improvements may be made on Capitol Hill it is necessary to maintain unity 
throughout the entire group of structures, whether they be buildings or monuments. The same 
restraint that was exercised in harmonizing the Senate and House wings with the original build- 
ing, and in subordinating the new office buildings and the Union Station to the Capitol itself, should 
prevail ia any work done hereafter. To introduce into the present orderly plan any structure 

19 



20 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 



which can not be brought into organic relations with the general scheme would inevitably create 
discord. Not only would the new structure suffer, but the effect of each of the other buildings 
in the group would be impaired. 

TTie axis of Delaware Avenue.— Tins, avenue is one of the great radial thoroughfares con- 
verging on the Dome of the Capitol. Along it the visitor to Washington is greeted by a view 
of the Capitol of the United States, the most impressive of all our public buildings. This view 
should not be obstructed, nor should attention be distracted by any large object introduced 
into the vista. 

Axis of the new avenue. — ^Located at any point along the projected diagonal avenue extend- 
ing from the Peace Monument to the Union Station, any great structure would be brought 
into such peculiar angular relationship with the Capitol in one direction and with the Union 
Station in another as to produce with those buildings a discordant and confusing group. 

Some portion of the land for enlarging the Capitol Grounds. — Substantially tbe same argu- 
ment above used applies also to this area. It would be possible to erect on lands north of the 
Capitol and facing Delaware Avenue a building or other structure, and call it a memorial to 
Abraham Lincoln; but any such structure located on one side of Delaware Avenue would call 
for a similar one on the opposite side, in order to retain the sense of balance, and this of itself 
would destroy the idea of preeminence and individuality. 

The territory east of the Capitol. — Reference to the plan submitted berewitli shows that a 
monument of large size should not be placed on the axis of East Capitol Street, thereby obstruct- 
ing the view of the Dome from this thoroughfare ; nor could it be placed on one side of the street 
. or of the Capitol Groimds without creating a disturbance among the Capitol, the Congressional 
Library, and the Senate Office Building. 

The territory south of the Capitol. — The block bounded by B and C Streets and South Capitol 
Street might be used as a site. In this case the Memorial would take the form of a building 
having a great terrace and portico toward the west. Such an arrangement would demand a 
like treatment to the north of the Capitol, and thus the sense of a distinct and characteristic 
memorial would be lost. 

The territory west of the Capitol. — The one possible site for a great memorial immediately 
west of the Capitol is now occupied by the Grant Monument; and no other could be added without 
destroying the effect of what has already been done. Even if the Grant Monument were not 
located as it is, any structure as large as the proposed Lincoln Memorial must be would not 
only vie with the Capitol in importance but also would block the vista from the Capitol to the 
Washington Monument. 

Forms of treatment. — A colonnade or an arcade around the Plaza, such as has been suggested, 
is open to the objections that, however desirable such a feature might be in itself, it would be in 
effect an adjunct to the raihoad statioii and would fall far short of f ulfilling the reasonable ideal 
of a monument to Abraham Lincoln. 

The suggestion of a monumental arch on one of the avenues leading to the Capitol is open 
to two objections: First, the arch is most effective when used to crown an elevation, a physical 
impossibility in this instance; second, an arch, when used on one of the radial avenues, would 
seriously detract from the effect of the Dome of the Capitol. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 



21 



Minor forms of architectural or sculptural design might be entirely proper in the ayia of one 
or more of the radial avenues, but they could not have either the importance or the individual- 
ity necessary to a great memorial; and the same is true of any fountain, cascades, or other water 
features that might be introduced on the west front of the Capitol. 

The principal reason advanced for placing the Lincohi Memorial near the Union Station 
or on Capitol Hill is that more people would see it there than elsewhere. It is true that more 
transient visitors would pass it; but it is also true that an object which we must make some 
effort to see impresses itself on us with much more force than does one which is seen casually 
or incidentally. Not how many people see a monument, but how great is the impression made 
by it, is the real test. The locations just considered are in the vortex of busy life, and what- 
ever grandeur and impressive simpHcity and beauty the Memorial might possess would be 
lessened by close competition with the massive structure of the station and the immense pile 
of the Capitol. 

An axiom of exposition practice, which applies with equal force here, is that the least 
desirable place for an exhibit is near a busy entrance. Crowds hurry past to see what is beyond. 
Placed near the station, the Lincoln Memorial would teach but a feeble lesson, and the senti- 
ments it should stimulate would find no adequate response on the part of the beholders. 

The Conunission have reached this conclusion after having opportunity to consider a set 
of more than 100 architectural studies representing work carried on over a series of years with 
the purpose of discovering, if possible, some location and some form of structure which might 
be introduced into the Capitol area without producing a sense of inadequacy and incongruity. 
These studies cover the field of possibilities and prove conclusively that any location near the 
Capitol presents obstacles that are insurmountable, if the manifest desire of Congress for a 
great memorial is to be carried out. 

The block plans, .sketches, and perspectives of possible treatments, worked out to show 
what might be done in each section of the territory in the neighborhood of the Capitol, are at 
the disposal of the Lincoln Memorial Commission. 

THE POTOMAC PARK SITE 

The comparative isolation of the Potomac Park site in the midst of a large area of unde- 
veloped vacant land constitutes a pecuHar advantage. For a long distance in every direction 
the surroundings are absolutely free for such treatment as would best enhance the effect of the 
Memorial. The fact that there are now no features of interest or importance, that everything 
is yet to be done, means that no embarrassing obstacles would interfere with the development 
of a setting adequate ki extent and perfect in design, without compromise and without discord. 

Congress has here created a great park area, raised well above the highest river floods, and 
this area now awaits development. By the ordinary operations of park improvement it is a 
simple matter to raise in this area an eminence suited to the site of a great memorial and to 
adorn and surround it by such landscape features as shall give it effective and beautiful support. 
In judging the site of a memorial to endure throughout the ages we must regard not what the 
location was nor what it is to-day, but what it can be made for all time to come. The short 
period required for grading and the growth of trees would be aa nothing compared with the 



22 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 



possibility which this site presents of treating freely every element of the surroundings in the 
best manner that the skill of man can devise. 

It is impossible to overestimate the importance of giving to a monument of the size and 
significance of the Liacoln Memorial complete and undisputed domination over a large area, 
together with a certain dignified isolation from competing structures, or even from minor 
features unrelated to it. Upon no other possible site in the city of Washington can this end 
be secured so completely as upon the Potomac Park site. 

A memorial upon this location would have the further advantage that it need not be so 
high as to bring it into competition with the Washington Monument in order to make it visible 
from great distances, without danger of obstruction by buildings erected on private property. 
A monumental structure standing in a broad plain surrounded by an amphitheater of hills is 
as widely seen and is as impressive as one upon a hilltop. From the hiUs of the District and 
of Virginia the constantly recurring views of a great Lincoln Memorial, seen in association 
with the Washington Monument and the Dome of the Capitol, would be impressive in the 
highest degree. 

While this site is sufficiently isolated to give it dignity, it is readily accessible, being situ- 
ated in a park which even in its partially developed state has become a place of great popular 
resort, and which is destined to be the chief center of outdoor reunion in Washington, for people 
on foot as well as those in vehicles. 

As a matter of general design in relation to the plan of the city as a whole, any site upon 
the main east-and-west axis, in line with the Capitol and the Washington Monument, has an 
importance which no other site can claim; and the termination of that axis at the Potomac 
Kiver gains a significance comparable only with that of the site selected in the plan of 1791 for 
the Monument to Washington. The Lincoln Memorial would have its dignity enhanced by 
being so placed; and the termination of the axis by an object worthy of rank with the Wash- 
ington Monument and the Capitol would be of the utmost value to the great composition. 

It is now 10 years since the Potomac Park site was first suggested for a memorial to 
Lincoln. Among those with whom the location found favor was the Hon. John Hay, one 
of Lincoln's secretaries and biographers, whose rank in statesmanship and whose taste in 
matters of art combine to give value to his opinion. Mr. Hay expressed ia these words the 
feeliags which in one form or another he often stated: 

As I understand it, the place of honor is on the main axis of the plan. Lincoln, of all 
Americans next to Washington, deserves this place of honor. He was of the immortals. 
You must not approach too close to the immortals. His monument should stand alone, 
remote from the common habitations of man, apart from the business and turmoil of 
the city — isolated, distinguished, and serene. Of all the sites, this one near the Potomac 
is most suited to the purpose. 

In pursuance with your instructions we have considered carefully whether any location 
not specifically mentioned in your resolution meets the requirements. We are unable to find 
any such site. We therefore unanimously approve and recommend the Potomac Park site 
for the location of the Lincoln Memorial. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 



23 



TYPE OF MEMORIAL AND SELECTION OF A DESIGNER 

When, the location for the Lincohi Memorial shall have deen determined by your Com- 
mission, the general type of the Memorial and method of selecting the designer VTill be the 
next consideration. 

If you adopt the recomanendation of this Commission as to the site, only a few special 
conditions should restrict the selection of a design. To avoid competition with the Capitol or 
the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial should not include a dome and should not be 
characterized by great height, but by strong horizontal lines. Within these wide limits com- 
plete freedom of choice is possible. 

There are two methods of selecting a designer: First, direct selection of one who when 
appointed would submit designs of various types and afterwards develop that one which your 
Commission may approve; this appointment to be subject to recall if found unsatisfactory. 
Second, selection of a designer by competition. 

In the opinion of this Commission the first method secures the most satisfactory results, 
and we therefore recommend it. If, however, a competition be required either by law or by 
decision of your Commission, we recommend that you associate with you two or more architects 
to prepare, subject to your approval, a program for the competition and to conduct subsequent 
procedure; and, further, that there be, in the first instance, a general competition open to any 
who may desire to submit preliminary designs; that from among the authors of the best 
designs a certain number be selected upon the strength not only of their submitted drawings, 
but also of their past records in successful execution; and that a final competition be held 
between the designers so selected and a limited number of others chosen solely for their eminent 
record of successful executed work. 

We have the honor to be, very respectfully, 

The Commission of Fine Arts, 
By D. H. BtTRNHAM, Chairman. 



APPENDIX 



Various locations besides those specified in the resolution of the Lincoln Memorial Com- 
mission have been considered, but no one of them has been found suitable. 

Below are given brief statements of the opinion of the Commission of Fine Arts in regard 
to the most important of these and also in regard to certain forms which have been proposed 
for the Memorial: 

Meridian HiU. — It has been suggested that the Lincoln Memorial might take the form 
of an arch located on Meridian HiU in the axis of Sixteenth Street. This site would depend 
for its effectiveness almost whoUy upon the vista of Sixteenth Street. This is so narrow and 
the foliage extends so far into the street that for a considerable portion of the year the Memorial 
would be hidden from view at those points where it should be most effective. 

Moreover, this region will soon be a busy one, and even now is occupied by residences 
of many and varied styles of architecture. Located here, the Lincoln Memorial would lack 



2^ LINCOL N MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 

that isolation which is &n essential element in the site of a great monument. In the future 
the Meridian Hill location will probably be used for a monument, but it is not a proper site 
for a memorial of supreme importance. 

Any monument on Meridian Hill off the axis of Sixteenth Street would occupy a position 
of distinctly iaferior rank. 

Fort Stevens. — Five miles north from the city of Washington, near the extension of Seventh 
Street, are the remains of Fort Stevens, where President Lincoln was under jfire during the raid 
of Gen. Early, in July, 1864; and near by is Battle Cemetery, where a number of the soldiers 
who fell in that engagement were buried. It has been proposed that the Lincoln Memorial 
be erected in this locality, thus identifying it pecuharly with the military aspect of his Presi- 
dency. Seventh Street is not a great radial avenue in the city plan, and it would be impossible 
to coordinate this site with any of the chief monuments of the Capital. 

A memorial iridge. — Congress has recognized the desirability of a bridge to connect Potomac 
Park with Arlington. Such a structure would supplement, in sentiment at least, the Lincoln 
Memorial if the latter shall be erected on the site recommended by the Commission. The 
Memorial to Lincoln, however, should take some abstract form of art, typifying the endeavor 
and character of the man. From the necessary limitations of its construction, the proposed 
bridge could not have a distinctly monumental character; and, because of the common purpose 
of traffic to which it would be put, it would not, in itself alone, impress one as a memorial. 

A road to Oettyshurg. — A great road to Gettysburg has been ably and enthusiastically 
advocated by its projectors. The wording of the act, however, contemplates that the Lincoln 
Memorial shall be erected in the city of Washington, and this precludes the discussion of this 
project in this report. In the event that the question of a memorial in this form shall be con- 
sidered further, there are reasons which appear to the Commission of Fine Arts conclusive 
why a road to some distant point could not be made a suitable memorial to Lincoln. 



APPENDIX B 

REPORT OF THE ARCHITECT ON THE PRELIMINARY 
DESIGN FOR A MEMORIAL ON THE 
POTOMAC PARK SITE 

HENRY BACON, Designer 

The Lincoln Memorial Commission. 

Sms: In accordance with the resolution adopted August 10, 1911, by the Lincohi Memorial 
Commission employing me to prepare a design for the Lincohi Memorial that can be executed 
within the legal limit of cost on the site in Potomac Park recommended by the Commission 
of Fine Arts, I have the honor to submit this report, and the drawings, photographs, and models 
which accompany it. 

I have carefully examined the site, and after having had erected at its center a pole 65 feet 
high, with cross arms 20 feet apart, the lowest being 25 feet above the present grade, have 
had the photographs here presented taken from several points of view. Some of the photo- 
graphs were taken with a telephoto lens, and these are indicated by their titles. The drawings 
accompanying this report are carefuUy made and indicate the exact relation of the design of 
the Lincoln Memorial to its proposed surroundings and the pubhc buildings in Washington. 
The models are two in number, one at a scale of one thirty-second inch to a foot, showing the 
raising of the ground at the site, the approaches, and the landscape gardening; the other a 
model of the Memorial itself at a scale of one-half inch to a foot. 

Before beginning my study of the design of this Memorial I beheved that the site in Poto- 
mac Park was the best one for a monument to Abraham Lincoln, and since devotiag my time 
for four months to a study of its possible development, I am certain of it. Terminating the axis 
which unites it with the Washington Monument and the Capitol, it has a significance which that 
of no other site can equal, and any emulation or aspiration engendered by a memorial there to 
Lincoln and his great quahties will be immeasurably stimulated by being associated with the 
like feelings aheady identified with the Capitol and the Monument to George Washington. 
Containing the national legislative and judicial bodies, we have at one end of the axis a beau- 
tiful building, which is a monument to the United States Govenmient. At the other end of 
the axis we have the possibility of a memorial to the man who saved that Government, and 
between the two is a monument to its founder. AH three of these structures, stretching in one 
grand sweep from Capitol Hill to the Potomac Eiver, will lend, one to the others, the associa- 
tions and memories connected with each, and each wiU have its value increased by being on 
the one axis and having visual relation to the others. 

In a vista over 2 nules long these three large structures, so placed that they will be for- 
ever free from proximity to the turmoil of ordinary affairs and the discordant irregularity of 
adjacent secular buildmgs, will testify to the reverence and honor which attended their erec- 
tion, and the impression of their dignity and stateliness on the mind of the beholder will be 

25 



26 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 



augmented by their surroundings, for which we have a free field for symmetrical and proper 
arrangement. They are, however, sufficiently far apart for each to be distinguished, isolated, 
and serene, not conflicting in design or appearance the one with the others, and each will impress 
the observer with the reason for its existence. 

To the east of the Memorial, extending toward the Washington Monument, is proposed a 
large lagoon, which will introduce into the landscape an element of repose and beauty, and 
in its waters the reflection of the Memorial will add to its tranquillity and retirement. 

If a memorial bridge to Arlington is built directly connecting, as shown on the general 
plan, the Lincoln Memorial site with the ground containing the dust of those who gave " the 
last full measure of devotion" to their country, it will add to the meaning and solemnity 
of both places. Moreover, linking together the District of Columbia with Virginia, it could 
be made a striking symbol of reunion between the North and the South, a most appropriate 
symbol leading to and from the Memorial of the man who said in his first inaugural address — 

"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies." 

On the general plan is shown by red lines a suggested extension of the street car lines down 
Eighteenth Street and across B Street into the park, thence turning westward and running 
about 40 feet south of the curb of B Street to the Twenty-third Street entrance of the park 
opposite the site of the Lincoln Memorial. This suggested extension of the street car lines will 
make the Potomac Park site readily accessible, as it should be, to all classes. 

The Memorial itself should be free from the near approach of vehicles and traffic. Rever- 
ence and honor should suffer no distraction through lack of silence or repose in the presence 
of a structure reared to noble aims and great deeds. 

I propose that the Memorial to Lincoln take the form of a monument symbolizing the 
Union of the United States of America, inclosing in the walls of its sanctuary three memorials 
to the man himself — one a statue of heroic size expressing his humane personaUty, the others 
memorials of his two great speeches, one of the Gettysburg speech, the other of the second 
inaugural address, each with attendant sculpture and painting telling in allegory of his splendid 
quahties evident in those speeches. 

The statue will occupy the place of honor, a position facing the entrance which opens 
toward the Capitol. This position is in a central hall, separated by screens of columns from the 
spaces at each side, in each of which will be one of the other memorials. Each of these three 
memorials will thus be secluded and isolated and will exert its greatest influence. I can not 
imagine a memorial to Lincoln so powerful in its meaning and so appropriate to his life as an 
imposing emblem of the Union inclosing memorials of his qualities and achievements. Such 
a memorial placed on a site of such significance and possibflity of broad treatment as the site 
in Potomac Park will convey its lesson with the greatest force. 

The site presents no difficulty in the way of making an imposing and appropriate setting 
for the Memorial, which by means of an elevation of the ground will rise many feet above the 
tops of the proposed surrounding trees even when full grown. It will be conspicuous from 
many points of view, and by means of openings in the encircling foliage will be seen in its 
entirety from six different monumental approaches. Its whole eastern and western facades 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 



27 



will be exposed to view, the former toward the Washington Monument and the latter toward 
the Potomac River and the hills of Arlington. 

By means of terraces the ground at the site of the Lincoln Memorial will be raised until 
the same level is obtained as the ground at the base of the Washington Monument. First a 
circular terrace, 1,000 feet in diameter, is raised 11 feet above the present grade. On its outer 
edge will be planted four concentric rows of trees, leaving a plateau in the center 750 feet in 
diameter, which is 4 feet greater than the length of the Capitol. In the center of this plateau, 
surrounded by a wide roadway and walks, will rise a terrace 16 feet high and 500 feet in 
diameter, making the total elevation of grade 27 feet above the present grade. On this rises 
the Memorial to Lincoln, a monument representing the Union he saved by his extraordinary 
gifts and powers and to which his devotion was supreme. 

On a granite rectangular base is placed a series of plinths or steps, 13 in number, typifying 
the 13 original States. The top step supports on its outer edge a Greek Doric colonnade of 36 
columns, symbolizing the Union of 1865, each column representing a State existing at the time 
of Lincoln's death. This colonnade of the Union surrounds the wall of the Memorial HaU, 
which rises through and above it, and at the top of the wall is a decoration, supported at intervals 
by eagles, of 48 memorial festoons, one for each State in the Union to-day. The above three 
features of the exterior design represent the Union as originally formed, as it was at the triumph 
of Lincoln's life, and as it is when we plan to erect a monument to his memory. These cumula- 
tive symbols house as their kemal the memorials of Lincoln's great qualities, which must be 
so portrayed to mankind that devotion, integrity, charity, patience, intelligence, and humane- 
ness win find incentive to growth, and by contemplation of a monument to his memory and to 
the Union the just pride that citizens of the United States have in their country will be supple- 
mented by increasing gratitude to Abraham Lincoln for saving it to them and to their children. 

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION 

Two borings made at the site show that rock exists at a depth from 42 to 44 feet below 
the present grade. Concrete piling will be driven to the rock, and on this piling wUl be built the 
foundations extending up to the granite platform, which is 231 feet long and 163 feet wide. The 
material of the exterior above this granite platform is white marble. 

The colonnade is 171 feet long and 108 feet wide, the columns being 40 feet high and 6 
feet 9 inches in diameter at their base. The total height of the structure above the finished 
grade at the granite base is 88 feet. The finished grade being 27 feet above the present grade, 
the total height of the building above the present grade is 115 feet. 

The Memorial Hall is 60 feet wide and 135 feet long, and its walls and floor will be of colored 
marble. The ceiling, which is 60 feet high, wiU be supported by massive bronze beams, gilded, 
colored, and lacquered; and light may be introduced through the ceiling where found by experi- 
ment to be of the best advantage. The columns of the interior are of the Greek Ionic order 
and are 50 feet in height. 

The statue of Lincoln is of white statuary marble, and the tentative height of the figure 
on the sketch of the interior is 12 feet. The figure if standing would be about 16 feet high. 
The memorials to the two speeches wiU be incorporated in the end walls of the Memorial Hall. 



28 LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 

Large tablets bearing the full text of Lincoln's two great speeches, combined with adjacent 
allegorical figures, will form imposing memorials. At each end of the outside vestibule are 
two spaces, one of which can be for the use of an attendant and the other for a staircase 
giving caretakers access to the roof and the basement. 

The large doorway, 18 feet wide and 36 feet high, is equipped with heavy doors of bronze 
grilles filled with plain glass. During mild weather these doors can be left open during the day, 
and in the cold winter months a temporary bronze and glass vestibule can be provided in the 
lower portion of the large grilles, which are subdivided at the bottom for this purpose. 

Whatever heating of the building may be necessary can be accomplished by introducing 
air heated in the basement by means of gas or electricity, and probably some simple scheme 
of ventilation by exhaust fans will be advisable. 

There are some refinements shown in the models and on the drawings which are not 
common in modern architecture. The columns are not vertical, being sHghtly tilted inward 
toward the building, the four corner columns being tilted more than the others. The outside 
face of the entablature is also inclined inward, but sHghtly less than the axis of the columns 
underneath it. The wall of the Memorial Hall inclines inward least of all. These inclinations, 
without being evident to the eye, will give to the building an appearance of great stability 
and strength. 

The cost of erecting this Memorial according to estimates received from two contractors 
of high standing in monumental work will be within the legal limit of cost, exclusive of grading 
and landscape gardening. 

I submit in a portfoUo sketches of several other designs for this Memorial, none of which 

so well expresses as the drawings on these walls the idea described in this report, and none of 

them seems so well suited to the site. 

Respectfully submitted. 

Henet Bacon. 
December 6, 1911. 



APPENDIX C 

REPORT OF THE ARCHITECT ON DESIGNS FOR THE 
MERIDIAN HILL AND THE SOLDIERS' HOME SITES 

JOHN RUSSELL POPE, Architect 



SITES— THE MERIDIAN HILL AND THE SOLDIERS' HOME GROUNDS 

The city of Washington has two dominating, ever-present, vital features. They express 
her purpose and our ideals. They are carried in the minds of all men and are a constant 
educational and moral factor among them. They are the Dome of the Capitol and the 
Monument to Washington. 

Elevation has always added dignity, grandeur, and loftiness of purpose to beauty; the 
vital element in these two monuments is that they rise above us. 

The Capitol is on an elevation 88 feet above the Potomac, and its Dome begins its rise 
100 feet above. 

The crest of Meridian Hill has an elevation of 185 feet, or is approximately 100 feet above 
the Capitol site. 

The crest of the hiU on the axis of North Capitol Street, on the Soldiers' Home Grounds, 
has an elevation of 210 feet, or approximately 130 feet higher than the site of the Capitol. 

The possibility of a third dominating vital feature in Washington on either of these sites 
is indicated by these figures. 

The Meridian HiU site and the Soldiers' Home Grounds site are on main axes of the city 
plan. They are suitably situated for monuments of the first order. 

Both sites possess qualities absolutely necessary to an unhampered expression of purpose 
in the monuments on them by reason of their independence of surrounding important archi- 
tectural dictates, considerations, or comparisons. 

The Meridian HiU site, though restricted in area, is of sufficient size to allow of suitable 
landscape setting. Its elevation above its surroundings and above the traffic of Sixteenth 
Street overcomes any objection in connection with these considerations. 

The Soldiers' Home Grounds site possesses the grand qualities of isolation, of elevation, 
of unlimited area of beautifully treed parking, and of control of aU surroundings affecting it. 
It is not too remotely situated and is easy of access. It is, in the author's opinion, a location 
in the biggest, finest sense for a great memorial, and the finest in Washington for that purpose. 

The existence of the city's filtration plant close by is not an objection, but an advantage, 
for at a slight expense it can be given all the appearance of an adjoining park. 

29 



30 LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 

Comment on the associations of these sites with Lincoln, such as the Meridian Hill site 
being on the road to Gettysburg and the Soldiers' Home Grounds site being his summer home, 
is not in the sphere of this report. 

A MEMORIAL TO LINCOLN 

I take the liberty of quoting in part the Hon. John Hay's remark on this subject: 

As I understand it, the place of honor is on the main axis of the plan. Lincoln, of 
all men, deserves this place of honor. He was of the immortals. You must not 
approach too close to the immortals. His monument should stand alone, remote 
from the common habitations of man, apart from the business and turmoil of the city — 
isolated, distinguished, and serene. 

These are the qualities that should obtain in a memorial to Abraham Lincoln. The 
author of these drawings interprets these sentiments not in the form of a monument, a tomb, 
an arch, or any form of building, for these their labels alone denote their purpose; but in a 
figure of the man himself, alone, serene, above us, in a setting of simple memorial dignity, a 
setting of proportions sufficient to share the prominence of the Capitol Dome and the Wash- 
ington Monument, but in which the man is always felt. 

THE MERIDIAN HILL SITE MEMORIAL 

The design calls for the purchase of land and the razing of a building to the west of Six- 
teenth Street. It provides for a park 750 by 1,200 feet on the crest and slope of the hUl. It 
diverts Sixteenth Street around this park and places the Memorial in the center on the axis of 
Sixteenth Street. 

At the north and south ends of this park are open plazas the width of the park. From 
these plazas rise steps 100 feet wide in terraces to a platform 100 by 200 feet at an elevation 
of 250 feet, or well above the columns of the Capitol Dome. On this platform is placed the figure 
of Lincoln. Around the figure stands a double rectangle of monumental sentinel columns 
measuring, with their entablatures and covering, 64 feet in height, each column measuring 8 
feet in diameter and 40 feet ia height. 

THE SOLDIERS' HOME GROUNDS SITE MEMORIAL 

On the axis of North Capitol Street, on the crest of the hill 1,000 feet from Michigan Avenue, 
and approached from it by a court 400 feet wide, is placed a platform 600 feet square. This 
platform rises on grass terraces to a height above the adjoining trees. The platform has an 
elevation of 225 feet, or is at a height well above the columns of the Capitol Dome. In the 
center of this, and shghtly raised above the terrace, stands the figure of Lincoln. Around him 
stand monumental sentinel columns in the form of an arcade 320 feet ia diameter and with the 
entablature and attic measuring 70 feet ia height. 

In this design as well as the other there is no architectural feature symbohcal of govern- 
mental or other significance than that of homage as a setting to the figure of the man. The 
architecture is for this one direct purpose. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 



31 



The design calls for a suitable dedication over the main south columns and provides a 
frieze on the inside of the court around the Lincoln Statue for a record of his words. 



TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

PIONEER ORATOR JURIST STATESMAN 
PARDONER RECONCILER EMANCIPATOR 
LOVER AND PROTECTOR OF ALL LIFE 
WHO THROUGH THE BITTERNESS OF 
WAR PRESERVED THE UNION AND WHO 
THROUGH A MARTYR'S DEATH HEALED 
THE WOUNDS OF THE SWORD AND 
CEMENTED IN LOVE A REUNITED PEOPLE 



EespectfuUy, 

The Lincoln Memorial Commission, 

Washington, D. C. 
68731°— S. Doc. 965, 62-3 3 



John Eussell Pope. 



APPENDIX D 

REPORT OF THE ARCHITECT ON ALTERNATIVE DESIGNS 
FOR THE POTOMAC PARK SITE 

HENRY BACON, Architect 



The Lincoln Memorial Commission. 

Sirs: I have the honor to submit for your consideration three designs for the Lincoln 
Memorial on the Potomac Park site. These designs are lettered A, B, and C, and are intended 
for execution in marble. 

Being convinced that, ia order to avoid competition with the Washington Monument and 
the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial should be characterized by strong horizontal lines, I have 
eliminated from the solution of the problem aU forms such as triumphal arches, shafts, or domes. 

DESCRIPTION OF DESIGN A 

In design A, which is a modification of the design already submitted by me, I have 
endeavored to express a symbol of the Union, a,nd its exterior is designed solely to that end. 
Inclosed within it are three memorials, the central one being a marble statue of Lincoln. The 
other memorials are of his two great speeches and are inclosed in smaller haUs than the one contain- 
ing the statue. The design has been so modified that greater prominence is given to the central 
space occupied by the statue. The exterior has also been changed so that the walls of the 
Memorial Hall extend without interruption from the stylobate to its top, the outer vestibule 
columns having been omitted. This change not only gives an appearance of greater soUdity 
to the exterior, but gives continuity to the walls of the Memorial HaU. 

Dimensions 

Elevation of site: 16 feet above present grade. 

Terrace: 310 feet wide, 380 feet long, 16 feet high. 

Bottom step of Memorial: 168 feet wide, 231 feet long. 

Colonnade: 108 feet wide, 171 feet long. 

Columns : 40 feet high, 6 feet 9 inches diameter. 

Floor of Memorial : 50 feet above present grade. 

Total height of structure above present grade: 120 feet. 

Central portion of Memorial Hall: 60 feet wide, 70 feet long. 

Spaces at ends of Memorial Hall : 35 feet wide, 55 feet long. 

Height of Memorial Hall: 60 feet. 

DESCRIPTION OF DESIGN B 
Design B consists of two large terraces supporting a Doric colonnade representing the 
States, surrounding on three sides a colossal bronze statue of Lincoln facing the Capitol. At 
the ends of the colonnade are tablets inscribed with the two great speeches 

3S 



34 ' LINCOL N MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 

DimeTisions 

Elevation of site: 16 feet above present grade. 

First terrace: 275 feet wide, 420 feet long, 12 feet high. 

Second terrace: 160 feet wide, 325 feet long, 25 feet high. 

Colonnade: Outside dimensions 100 feet by 270 feet. 

Colunms: 40 feet high. 

Statue: 22 feet high. 

Total height of structure above present grade: 117 feet. 

DESCRIPTION OF DESIGN C 

Design C shows a succession of terraces on which is placed a Doric peristyle, four columns 
deep, representing the States. In front of this peristyle, facing the Capitol, is a colossal bronze 
statue of LiQColn, and inside the peristyle, at the ends between two of the inner columns, are 
tablets inscribed with quotations from Lincoln's speeches. 

Dimensions 

Elevation of site : 16 feet above present grade. 

First terrace: 320 feet wide, 470 feet long, 14. feet high. 

Second terrace: 210 feet wide, 395 feet long, 16 feet high. 

Colonnade : 50 feet wide, 240 feet long. 

Colunms : 40 feet high. 

Statue: 22 feet high. 

Total height of structure above present grade: 110 feet. 

I believe design A to be the best one of those I-have submitted, for the following reasons: 
The power of impression by an object of reverence and honor is greatest when it is secluded and 
isolated, for then, in quiet and without distraction of the senses or mind, the beholder is alone 
with the lesson the object is designed to teach and inspire, and will be subject to its meaning. 

This principle of seclusion is an old one. At the height of achievement in Greece was 
found the Athena in the Parthenon and one of the seven wonders of the world was placed 
within the temple of Zeus at Olympia. 

By having the statue sheltered and secluded within a hall the lighting can be so arranged 
that it will be constant, the statue can be sculptured in marble, and it can be seen at all times 
to the best advantage. These are important factors in the success of the sculptor's work. 
Enshrined as a precious object, the statue would always be seen under ideal conditions and its 
effectiveness would be superlative. On the other hand, a statue exposed to the elements 
would be seen to great disadvantage during inclement weather, and, owing to the constantly 
changing light, would not always be seen to the best advantage even during fine weather. 

The design of the Lincoln Memorial, by withdrawing into the seclusion of a memorial 

hall the statue of Lincoln and memorials of his two great speeches, and by placing this hall, 

expressing by its exterior the Union, in the seclusion of an area surrounded by groves of trees, 

bordered by the Potomac and related to the Monument to Washington, will have, I beheve, 

the profoundest significance. 

Respectfully submitted. 

Henet Bacon. 
March 22, 1912. 



APPENDIX E 



REPORT OF THE ARCHITECT ON A DESIGN FOR THE 

POTOMAC PARK SITE 



JOHN RUSSELL POPE. Architect 



A LINCOLN MEMORIAL ON THE POTOMAC PARK SITE 

The Potomac Park site for the Lincoln Memorial is on a line connectiag the Washington 
Monument and the Capitol. A memorial here limits the western as does the Capitol the eastern 
end of the great Mall containing the Washington Monument, laid out by and to be developed 
after the plans of the Park Commission of 1902. 

The author presents a design for this location similar and founded on the same memorial 
principals as that aheady submitted for the Soldiers' Home Grounds site, the modifications 
being those suggested by location, the most careful consideration of the Park Commission's 
plan of the Mall and Potomac Parkway, their suggestions as to the architectural expression 
for the Memorial necessary to a general harmonious scheme, and the criticism intimated by 
the Lincoln Memorial Commission of the designs previously submitted. 

Several other suggestions are also presented in view to being of help in the consideration 
of possibilities in other directions suggested by the discussion of the Memorial Commission. 

In these the author hopes to show that a human figure, by reason of a natural limit in 
size, can not dominate or crown a great impressive memorial composition. It can be but its 
heart, its personaHty. 

No figure could dominate the Washington Monument; its vitality is in its superhuman 
bigness, its dignity, and its unity. . To hold its own with this Monument a Lincoln Memorial 
first must possess this vital quaUty of bigness and of dignity. . It can not compete with the 
Monument vertically, therefore it must horizontally. 

The Washington Monument is, again, vital in its unity. It is complete without figure and 
without label, but it is without personality. There can be but one of such. 

The form selected for the Lincoln Memorial is likewise of unit simplicity. It is complete; 
nothing can be added or taken away from it; but its form allows of the expression of its purpose 
at its heart, its center, in the statue of Lincoln. 

The author believes that this composition has the qualities of greatness and distinction; 
that its independence of customary building forms and its individuality would as forcibly 
challenge the eye and mind as does its neighbor. 

As already stated, the conception of this monument is the author's interpretation of the 
sentiments relative to it of John Hay. 

The Memorial is a heroic, massive, simple, open Doric colonnade, of circular portico pantheon 
form, which guards but does not conceal a great quiet central area and the figure of Lincoln. 

35 



36 LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 

The colonnade is 320 feet in diameter, 60 feet in height, and raised on a platform 40 feet above 
the Potomac, in accordance with the plans of the Park Co mmis sion, from which report I quote 
the following: 

Crowning the round point, as the Arc de Triomphe crowns the Place de I'Etoile at 
Paris, should stand a memorial erected to the memory of that one man in our history 
as a nation who is worthy to be named with George Washington — Abraham Lincoln. 

"Whatever may be the exact form selected for the Memorial to Lincoln, in type it 
should possess the quality of universality, and also it should have a character essentially 
distinct from that of any monument either now existing in the District or hereafter to 
be erected. The type which the Commission has in mind is a great portico of Doric 
columns rising from an unbroken stylobate. This portico, while affording a point of 
vantage from which one obtains a commanding outlook, both upon the river and east- 
ward to the Capitol, has for its chief ftmction to support a panel bearing an inscription 
taken either from the Gettysburg speech or from some one of the immortal messages 
of the savior of the Union. 

The general plan of the Park Commission for this site is a great round point with the Memo- 
rial its center. To this point various roads and approaches lead at different angles. The 
circular form of the Memorial suggested adapts itself naturally to this arrangement, particu- 
larly on the Potomac site, where the shore, diagonal to the axis of the MaU, would be in awk- 
ward and unfortunate relation to any straight-Mne structure. 

The statue of Lincoln indicated in the drawing submitted is the standing one by St. Gaudens 

in Lincoln Park at Chicago. This particular statue is not necessary, however, to the scheme. 

Respectfully, 

John Russell Pope. 



APPENDIX F 

REPORT OF THE COMMISSION OF FINE ARTS TO THE 
LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION ON VARIOUS DE- 
SIGNS SUBMITTED 



Washington, D. C, MarcJi 23, 1912. 
The Lincoln Memorial Commission, 

Washington, D. C. 

Sms: The Commission of Fine Arts, as requested by you, have studied carefully the 
several plans for a memorial to Abraham Lincoln submitted to your commission by Mr. Henry 
Bacon and Mr. John Russell Pope, and respectfully submit a report thereon. 

We commend heartily the serious architectural study given to the problem by both archi- 
tects, and we hope you wiU feel, as we do, that the drawings submitted prove conclusively 
that the Potomac Park site is in every way a most fitting and appropriate location and that it 
promises the best results. 

We feel, as doubtless your Commission also feel, that it is necessary to guard against being 
too much influenced by the maimer in which the designs are presented; that is to say, by the 
beautiful and impressive rendering of the drawings. The one thing to be considered is the 
final result to be obtained in the execution of the designs. 

Mr. Pope's principal design for the Potomac Park site is well studied. This design is a 
modification of the one originally prepared by him for the Soldiers' Home site, differing from 
the first one mainly in the omission of three of the four projections from the circular colonnade 
and in the increased width of the remaining projection, and also in the treatment of the support- 
ing terraces. The later design appears to us the better, quite regardless of the location, because 
of its greater simpHcity of form and the happier proportion existing between the monument 
and the terraces. Moreover, it adequately terminates the MaU; and, as Mr. Pope says in his 
report, it Hmits the western end of the Mall as the Capitol limits the eastern end. Also the 
monument itseK is well related to the landscape treatment of the groimds. We refrain from 
criticizing minor details of the design; but we believe that such a monument as is proposed, if 
well executed, would cost more than the appropriation, because such a scheme depends for 
success largely on the manner and character of its execution. 

Mr. Pope's design for the Meridian HUl site, in our opinion, would be incongruous with 
its surroimdings; and these surroundings could not be harmonized with it. 

The smaller drawings for the Potomac Park site submitted by Mr. Pope, while all 
interesting as illustrating different ideas, are none of them as good as the one he has presented 
in his larger rendered drawing; and therefore we do not feel it necessary further to comment 
upon them. 



33 LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 

Mr. Bacon presents three different studies for a memorial on the Potomac Park site. All 
have in them a great deal that is good; and each has certain features which, with further study, 
might be embodied in a final design. We fin,d that scheme A, taken as a whole, is the best of all 
the designs presented to your Commission. We agree with Mr. Bacon that the power of impres- 
sion made by an object of reverence and honor is greatest when that object is secluded and 
isolated. A portrait statue, when sheltered, can be seen to best advantage at aU times. From 
the point of view of sculpture, we heartily commend this feature in Mr. Bacon's plan. 

It is hoped and expected that the Lincoln Monument will prove a shrine to which all visitors 
to the capital city wOl flock. Especially in winter, the season when more people are in Wash- 
ington than at any other time, a monument which, in addition to an imposing exterior, contains 
a haU or chamber to shelter the statue and other reminders of Lincoln's greatness will afford 
conditions of comfort and sentiment conducive to quiet contemplation and a reverential attitude 
of mind that a monument with only external features could not supply. 

Moreover, an added impressiveness is gained for a statue erected in a hall that is built for it 
because of the perfect conditions of lighting that are possible and which are never seriously 
affected whatever the weather may be outside. 

Mr. Bacon's scheme B has a breadth which makes it a better termination of the MaU. Seen 
from a distance, as one approaches the Memorial from the Capitol on the main axis of the Mall, 
this breadth better composes with the Washington Monument. This feature can be incorporated 
in scheme A. The stylobate, or terrace, on which the monument rests, is somewhat high as 
compared with the height of the monument itself; but this is a matter for future study. Scheme 
C, while good in its general proportions, is less interesting than either scheme A or scheme B. 

We therefore recommend to your Commission that Mr. Bacon's scheme A be adopted, 
with such modifications as further study may suggest. 

In our report of July 17, 1911, we recommended to your Commission the direct selection of 
an architect to design the Lincoln Memorial. This we did advisedly, because we believe that, 
while the general scheme of such a monument is of vital importance, the manner in which the 
monument is executed is almost equally important. Skillful execution; the care and knowledge 
to be exercised in working out details and in the choice of materials; the proper supervision of 
the construction; the study required during the entire progress of the work — these are con- 
siderations of almost as much concern as the original conception. Ail are necessary to obtain 
a satisfactory result. Much, therefore, depends on the experience, ability, and temperament 
of the artist to whom the work is committed. 

Having to the best of our abihty considered aU the various elements that enter into the 
problem presented for solution, we respectfully recommend that Mr. Henry Bacon be selected 
as the architect for the Lincoln Memorial. We believe that through him a monument satis- 
factory to your Commission and to the people of this country will be attained. 

Very respectfully, 

D. H. BxJENHAM, Chairman. 



APPENDIX G 

REPORT OF THE' ARCHITECT ON THE FINAL DESIGN FOR 

THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL 

Submitted by HENRY BACON, Architect. 



The Lincoln Memorial Commission. 

Sms : After 10 months' study of the possibilities of the Potomac Park site and after con- 
sideration during that time of other sites proposed for the Lincohi Memorial I am confirmed 
in my opinion formed 10 years ago that the location in Potomac Park on the axis of the Wash- 
ington Monument and the Capitol is the only one where the monument to Abraham Liacohi 
now contemplated by Congress should be erected. There it will have a relation with the Wash- 
ington Monument and the Capitol that would be impossible on any other site, and it will have 
a close relation with Arlington Cemetery, where those who fought for the Union are buried. 
A large structure placed on an eminence raised in the Potomac Park site wiU have, by reason 
of its environment, a majestic significance impossible to be obtained on any other site, and 
all the esthetic and practical conditions necessary to the erection of a proper memorial to 
Abraham Lincoln can there be fulfilled. 

On the great axis, planned over a century ago, we have at one end the Capitol, which is the 
monument of the Government, and to the west, over a mile distant from the Capitol, is the 
Monument to Washington, one of the founders of the Government. If the Lincoln Memorial 
is buUt on this same axis stiU farther to the west, by the shore of the Potomac, we wiU there 
have the monument of the man who saved the Government, thus completing an unparalleled 
composition which can not fail to impart to each of its monuments a value in addition to that 
which each standing alone would possess. 

An extension of the street car lines down Eighteenth Street and across B Street into the 
park, thence turning westward and running about 40 feet south of B Street to the Twenty- 
third Street entrance of the park, opposite the site of the Lincoln Memorial, will make the Poto- 
m.ac Park site readily accessible, as it should be, to all classes. 

The design submitted of the Lincoln Memorial is a development of the designs already 
submitted by me. The structure has been enlarged, the design of the approaches, terraces, 
and steps has been revised, and the front of the Memorial has been made more o^en. From 
the beginning of my study I beheved that thi^fMemorial of Abraham Lincoln sbeuid-be com- 
posed of four features— ^a statue of the man, a raemorial of his Gettysburg speech, a memorial 
of his second inaugural address, and a symbol of the Union of the United States, which, he 
stated, it was his paramount object to save, and which he did save, i Each feature sheuld-be- 
related to the others by means of its design and position, and each shotil A b e-so arranged fhat 

39 






4Q LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 

it becomes an integral part of the whole, in order to attain a iinity and simpUcity in the appear- 
ance of the monument. Each feature should impress<-the beholder with its greatest force, and 
by means of isolation this ean-be accomphshed, )theugh this isolation should not" be planned" 
to the extent of impairing the relation of each feature to the others. 

^The most important object is the statue of Lincoln, which is jplaced ia the center of the 
Memorial, and by virtue of its imposing position in the place of honor, the gentleness, power, 
and iutelhgence of the man, expressed as far as possible by the sculptor's art, -mSi predominates 
This portion of the Memorial where the statue is placed would be- ^unoccupied by any other 
object that would detract from its effectiveness, and the visitor wiH-be alone with it. y 

( The smaller halls at each side of the central space wwjM each contaia a memorial — one 
of the second inaugural and the other of the Gettysburg add,i:ess. These speeches w-6«Jd— be 
'shown by bronze letters arranged on a monumental tablet, twad adjacent low rehefs or decora- 
tion would relate ia allegory Lincohi's great qualities evident in those speeches. (While these 
memorials can be seen from any part of the hall, they are partially screened from the central 
portion where the statue is placed by means of a row of Ionic columns, giving a certain isola- 
tion tb the space they occupy and augmenting thereby their importance/) I beHeve these two 
great speeches made by Lincohi will always have a far greater meaning to the citizens of the 
United States and visitors from other countries than a portrayal of periods or events by means 
of decoration. I think, however, some rehefs, and decoration designed in conjunction with 
these memorials and representuig in aUegory Liacohi's quahties, such as charity, patience, 
intelligence, patriotism, devotion to high ideals, and humaneness, will emphasize the effect 
of the speeches. 

/ Surroundiag the walls inclosing these memorials of the man is planned a colonnade 
formiag a symbol of the Union, each column representing a State — 36 in aU — for each State 
existing at the time of Lincoln's death, and on the walls appearing above the colonnade, and 
supported at intervals by eagles, are 48 memorial festoons, one for each State existing at the 
present time. 

I believe this symbol, representing the Union, surrounding the memorials of the man who 
saved the Union wUl give to them a great significance, that wUl strengthen in the hearts of 
beholders the feelings of reverence and honor for the memory of Abraham Lincoln. 

Technical Description 

By means of terraces the ground at the site of the Lincoln Memorial wiil-be raised until the 
floor of the Memorial itself will be 45 feet higher than the present grade. First, a circular terrace 
1,000 feet in diameter is raised 11 feet above the present grade, and on its outer edge will be 
planted four concentric rows of trees, leaving a plateau in the center 755 feet in diameter, which 
is greater than the length of the Capitol. In the center of this plateau, surrounded by a wide 
roadway and walks, will rise an eminence supporting a rectangular stone terrace wall 14 feet 
high, 256 feet long, and 186 feet wide. On this rectangular terrace rises the marble Memorial. 
All the foundations of the steps, terraces, and Memorial will be built on "concrete piling which 
extfends down to the solid rock. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL COMMISSION REPORT. 



41 



Three steps 8 feet high form a platform under the columns. This platform at its base is 
204 feet long and 134 feet wide. 

The colonnade is 188 feet long and 118 feet wide, the columns being 44 feet high and 7 feet 
5 inches in diameter at their base. 

The total height of the structure above the finished grade at the base of the terrace is 99 
feet. The finished grade at the base of the terrace being 23 feet above the present grade, the 
total height of the building above the present grade is 122 feet. , 

The outside of the Memorial HaU is 84 feet wide and 156 feet long. 

The colonnaded entrance to the Memorial Hall, which is 45 feet wide and 44 feet high, 
is equipped with shdiug bronze grilles, filled with plate glass. These grilles during the day 
wiU be rolled back into the space provided in the waUs, and will be closed at night for the pro- 
tection of the Memorial. As they are mostly glass, they can also be kept closed during the 
day in cold weather without Obstructing the entrance of light through the entrance, and a 
temporary bronze and glass vestibule can be provided in the lower portion of the grilles, which 
are subdivided at the bottom for this purpose. 

The central hall, where the statue stands, is 60 feet wide, 70 feet long, and 60 feet high. 

The halls where the memorials of the speeches are placed are 37 feet wide, 57 feet long, 
and 60 feet high. 

The interior columns are of the Ionic order and are 50 feet high. 

The cost of erecting this Memorial, according to estimates received from a contractor of 

the highest standing in monumental work, the quantities being carefully computed, is Sl,775,000. 

This estimate does not include the steps at the head of the lagoon, the statue of Lincoln, the 

memorials of his two speeches, or the architect's commission. With the exception of the steps 

at the head of the lagoon, which are properly a part of the landscape gardening around the 

Memorial, the design I have submitted, including the statue, the memorials, and the architect's 

commission, can be built for the sum authorized by Congress. 

Respectfully submitted. 

Henry Bacon. 

June 28, 1912. 




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